Deborah Bloomfield

The seemingly inevitable has been confirmed: 2023 was the hottest year on record by a massive margin. Oh, but that’s not all – last year also witnessed record-breaking levels of greenhouse gas concentrations, sea level rise, ocean heat and acidification, Antarctic sea ice cover, surface temperatures, and glacier retreat. The findings come from the latest […]

In a statement released on Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it had finalized a ban on the last remaining form of asbestos – a group of cancer-causing minerals – used in the United States. Though the use of asbestos in the US has been in decline for decades, previous attempts to ban […]

Packaged meats aren’t particularly appealing, often bearing witness marks of the journey they’ve been on from farm to fridge in the form of gloopy residue. Tempting as it is to clean it off, should you wash chicken before cooking it?  The science says you could be making things worse. Advertisement Why is raw chicken dangerous? […]

After 71 years, Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks has reached magnitude 5, the traditional point where an object is considered to be visible without binoculars or telescopes. You’ll still need particularly fortunate conditions to spot it with eyes alone, however, although even small instruments will shift the odds very much in your favor. Pons-Brooks is a member of […]

A perplexing illness that began striking US overseas diplomats in 2016 did not leave any lasting traces of brain damage, according to the findings of two new brain-imaging studies. Popularly known as Havana syndrome, the strange condition typically involves dizziness, headaches, and blurred vision among other neurocognitive symptoms, yet the cause of the illness remains […]

Schools in a Texas district will close for the 2024 eclipse, following warnings from local emergency management officials. The last total solar eclipse over the US was pretty spectacular, as anyone who saw it will attest. Looking at the photos, it’s hard to imagine how the sight could have been improved upon in the eclipse […]

Scientists in Brazil have engineered a cow to produce human insulin in its milk, making history as the world’s first transgenic cow capable of such a feat. Though still a long way off, the researchers hope that this bovine breakthrough could open doors for sustainable insulin production and help tackle the world’s insulin supply problems. […]

Efforts to save endangered species often call for an army of volunteers – but one zoo’s conservation program is showing how an air force can be just as useful. A range of innovative applications of drone technology could be the difference between survival and extinction (at least in the wild) for many species. Australia has […]

Elon Musk’s space company SpaceX is working on a classified project for the US Government, according to a new report from Reuters.  The firm, responsible for internet-providing satellite network Starlink, signed a $1.8 billion classified contract with an unknown government agency in 2021, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.  Advertisement Musk confirmed in 2023 […]

A new simulation challenges the way we picture one of the most famous stars in the night sky. Betelgeuse is among the top 20 brightest stars (although occasionally it is not) and is a red supergiant, the final stage of stellar evolution leading into a supernova. We usually picture stars as big plasma balls – […]

Sometimes it pays off to have a second look at something even over 100 years later. The fossil remains of a marine reptile that lived 247 million years ago have been re-examined 106 years after it was first described. The researchers have concluded that this means Trachelosaurus fischeri is the world’s oldest long-necked marine reptile.  Trachelosaurus […]

Rinsing out your sinuses can be part of ritual ablution, and might also be useful when you have a blocked nose. However, a new study has illustrated the importance of using sterile liquids to do so, as people using unsterilized tap water can become ill with a rare type of amoeba infection. Amoeba species like […]

Marine biologists are trying to make sense of a set of 49 killer whales whose physical characteristics are a mix of those normally associated with separate populations. They have been seen attacking sperm whales, a northern elephant seal, and a turtle, while also carrying the marks of frequent duels with sharks. There’s a reason Orcinus […]

If you’ve got half a million dollars to splash on a once-in-a-lifetime dining experience, then you may want to consider eating at the world’s highest table. Carried to the very limit of Earth’s atmosphere by a high-altitude balloon, the stratospheric eatery is the work of New York-based SpaceVIP and Florida-based Space Perspective, which has been […]

Solar flares and coronal mass ejections are dramatic releases of energy and plasma from the Sun. When they are directed at Earth, they can affect radio communications, harm satellites, and create spectacular aurorae. But Earth is not the only target that can be affected by these events. The other objects in the solar system are […]

Since the creation of nuclear weapons, we have lived in a world where an all-out war could destroy humanity many times over. Studies have found that just 100 or so warheads could plunge the world into nuclear winter, which could claim up to 1 billion lives. As of 2023, we have an approximated 12,500 nuclear […]

According to a major new analysis, neurological conditions have now overtaken cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of ill health and disability globally. Using data from the 2021 edition of the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD), researchers examined the impact of 37 different neurological conditions – including stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, […]

The US National Park Service has identified the remains of a British warship, HMS Tyger, which sank in 1742 when it ran aground on the reefs of the Dry Tortugas, now a national park in the Gulf of Mexico. The story of HMS Tyger is tied to a peculiarly named conflict between Britain and Spain […]

With armor-like shells covered in eyes, chitons are truly strange little beasties. Now, researchers have discovered even more weirdness underlying the evolution of their visual systems. Not only do chitons have the most recently evolved eyes with a lens, but their two kinds of eyes arose in four separate events. Chitons are marine mollusks – and […]

A treasure chest of unique biodiversity has been discovered along the strip of mountains that runs from northern Mozambique to Malawi’s Mount Mulanje in southeast Africa. Unfortunately, the area suffers some of the highest deforestation rates in Africa, leaving this rich array of wonderful wildlife with an uncertain future.  The plethora of life was recently […]